A major new gas discovery has been made off the coast of Shetland in a significant boost for the North Sea sector.

French energy Total said the discovery had been made on the Glendronach prospect and that it could be commercialised quickly and at low cost by linking it to existing infrastructure on nearby developments. Preliminary well tests have identified recoverable resources estimated at about one trillion cubic feet.

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The Glendronach discovery is operated by Total’s UK arm which has a 60% interest alongside Ineos (20%) and Perth utility SSE.

“Glendronach is a significant discovery for Total which gives us access to additional gas resources in one of our core areas and validates our exploration strategy,” said Arnaud Breuillac, exploration & production president at Total.

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It expects that the discovery can be developed quickly with the existing infrastructure around the Edradour field and the Laggan-Tormore facilities of the Shetland Gas Plant, in which SSE also has a 20% stake.

Martin Pibworth, SSE's wholesale director, said:

"This discovery represents a major addition to SSE's recoverable gas resources. Gas production assets are a natural complement to SSE's interests in gas-fired power generation and gas supply to business customers. They are expected to add to SSE's earnings from gas production in due course. In the meantime, we will continue to support exploration and appraisal activities around our existing assets."